Episodes
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When you tell yourself that you’re “behind” or that you “should be further along” (whether in your draft or in your career overall), you inadvertently make it harder to achieve your writing and publishing goals. In order to speed up your writing progress or make bigger strides toward the next big milestone, you need to start by accepting where you are instead of focusing on where you think you should be.
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The publishing industry is hard. That's why I created The Confident Author Academy. My 6-month, private coaching program (+ online course) helps you build the mental & emotional skills you need to thrive as an author. To learn more, schedule a free consult with me by clicking here.
Want access to my free monthly trainings? Sign up for my newsletter by clicking here.
DM me on Instagram & let me know what you thought of this episode!
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As a debut author, you've worked for years (if not decades!) honing your writing and storytelling skills. Yet you're ALSO a beginner in so many ways. Editing under deadline, planning a book launch, and navigating the world of marketing are all new skills. Even writing your next book--whether a sequel or another standalone--comes with a slew of firsts.
In this episode, Isabel breaks down the top 10 essential skills to not only survive--but thrive--as a first-time author.
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The publishing industry is hard. That's why I created The Confident Author Academy. My 6-month, private coaching program (+ online course) helps you build the mental & emotional skills you need to thrive as an author. To learn more, schedule a free consult with me by clicking here.
Want access to my free monthly trainings? Sign up for my newsletter by clicking here.
DM me on Instagram & let me know what you thought of this episode!
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Missing episodes?
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It's normal to have multiple agents throughout your career. As you grow as an author, you need different things out of the author/agent relationship.
On today's podcast, Dahlia Adler (author of Home Field Advantage, Cool for the Summer, and many other titles and founder of LGBTQreads.com) shares her insights on the skills you'll want to look for when signing with an agent as a debut vs a mid-career author.
Check out Dahlia's books on her website and follow her on Instagram or Bluesky!
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The publishing industry is hard. That's why I created The Confident Author Academy. My 6-month, private coaching program (+ online course) helps you build the mental & emotional skills you need to thrive as an author. To learn more, schedule a free consult with me by clicking here.
Want access to my free monthly trainings? Sign up for my newsletter by clicking here.
DM me on Instagram & let me know what you thought of this episode!
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The prioritization of a sustainable, joyful writing life doesn't mean that every writing session feels like rainbows shooting out of your fingertips. Sometimes, you feel bad (because of personal, writing, or publishing reasons) *and* you still want to write. When that happens, you need to be able to hold space for whatever emotion you're feeling while still tapping into your creativity. This episode will show you how.
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The publishing industry is hard. That's why I created The Confident Author Academy. My 6-month, private coaching program (+ online course) helps you build the mental & emotional skills you need to thrive as an author. To learn more, schedule a free consult with me by clicking here.
Want access to my free monthly trainings? Sign up for my newsletter by clicking here.
DM me on Instagram & let me know what you thought of this episode!
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If you struggle to trust your writing process–or you often doubt your ability to produce a novel despite a history of finished projects–this episode is for you.
You’ll learn how to look back at previous experiences to figure out your unique writing patterns and how to test out new techniques to determine what tools belong in your custom tailored writing toolkit.
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The publishing industry is hard. That's why I created The Confident Author Academy. My 6-month, private coaching program (+ online course) helps you build the mental & emotional skills you need to thrive as an author. To learn more, schedule a free consult with me by clicking here.
Want access to my free monthly trainings? Sign up for my newsletter by clicking here.
DM me on Instagram & let me know what you thought of this episode!
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If world events (or personal challenges) have you feeling too stressed to write, this episode will help you find your way forward again. Isabel walks you through how to care for yourself in the immediate aftermath of grief, how to find safety and reconnect with the importance of telling stories, and then ends the episode with a guided exercise to help you connect to your story before your next writing session.
If you’d like to jump to the guided meditation, go to [22:44].
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The publishing industry is hard. That's why I created The Confident Author Academy. My 6-month, private coaching program (+ online course) helps you build the mental & emotional skills you need to thrive as an author. To learn more, schedule a free consult with me by clicking here.
Want access to my free monthly trainings? Sign up for my newsletter by clicking here.
DM me on Instagram & let me know what you thought of this episode!
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With the devastating election results coming in today, I've pivoted this week's episode to a replay of my How to Be Resilient AF workshop. Resilience is going to be more important than ever, and while this training was written with publishing in mind, the same emotional processing tools apply here, too.
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The publishing industry is hard. That's why I created The Confident Author Academy. My 6-month, private coaching program (+ online course) helps you build the mental & emotional skills you need to thrive as an author.
To learn more, schedule a free consult with me by clicking here.
Want access to my free monthly trainings? Sign up for my newsletter by clicking here.
DM me on Instagram & let me know what you thought of this episode!
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You did the thing! You sold your debut novel, earned out your advance, or finished a draft of a book you love. So… why don’t you feel happy? Why can’t you feel proud or excited about what you’ve done? Why are you already anxious about the next step before the ink is even dry on the contract?
In today’s episode, Isabel breaks down why it’s so hard to feel good about your accomplishments and how to increase your capacity for positive emotions.
You can watch the replay of How to Be Resilient AF here.
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The publishing industry is hard. That's why I created The Confident Author Academy. My 6-month, private coaching program (+ online course) helps you build the mental & emotional skills you need to thrive as an author. To learn more, schedule a free consult with me by clicking here.
Want access to my free monthly trainings? Sign up for my newsletter by clicking here.
DM me on Instagram & let me know what you thought of this episode!
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If you want to write more often (or for longer periods of time), you need to build up your writing stamina.
Trying to go from no writing to daily 2-hour sessions is like a non-runner trying to run a marathon without any training. You gotta build your way up to that!
Today’s podcast episode walks you through why starting with short sessions is so important and how to build up to the number of hours you want to spend.
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The publishing industry is hard. That's why I created The Confident Author Academy. My 6-month, private coaching program (+ online course) helps you build the mental & emotional skills you need to thrive as an author. To learn more, schedule a free consult with me by clicking here.
Want access to my free monthly trainings? Sign up for my newsletter by clicking here.
DM me on Instagram & let me know what you thought of this episode!
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There is a lot of waiting in traditional publishing. Waiting to hear back from agents. Waiting for notes form your editor. Waiting for permission to share your good book news. All of this waiting can lead to frustration, impatience, and even anxiety. It doesn’t have to, though. In this episode, you’ll learn how to figure out WHY waiting feels so awful and how to handle the wait without pulling your hair out.
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The publishing industry is hard. That's why I created The Confident Author Academy. My 6-month, private coaching program (+ online course) helps you build the mental & emotional skills you need to thrive as an author. To learn more, schedule a free consult with me by clicking here.
Want access to my free monthly trainings? Sign up for my newsletter by clicking here.
DM me on Instagram & let me know what you thought of this episode!
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What you believe about yourself, the types of books you write, and your place in publishing has a huge impact on how you show up to writing sessions. But how do you find out what you belief? And if you find a not-so-great belief, how do you change it? In this episode, Isabel teaches you how to find your current beliefs and offers two different techniques for believing something new.
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The publishing industry is hard. That's why I created The Confident Author Academy. My 6-month, private coaching program (+ online course) helps you build the mental & emotional skills you need to thrive as an author. To learn more, schedule a free consult with me by clicking here.
Want access to my free monthly trainings? Sign up for my newsletter by clicking here.
DM me on Instagram & let me know what you thought of this episode!
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Only 5% of authors stay in publishing long enough to release 12 books over the course of their career. And while that’s an admittedly small percentage, it doesn’t have to be cause for alarm. Today on the podcast, I break down what actually determines whether an author reaches this 12 book milestone. Spoiler: the success of your debut novel is NOT on that list.
In this episode, I cite an interview with Jane Freidman, which is where I got my statistics. You can listen to that interview here.
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The publishing industry is hard. That's why I created The Confident Author Academy. My 6-month, private coaching program (+ online course) helps you build the mental & emotional skills you need to thrive as an author. To learn more, schedule a free consult with me by clicking here.
Want access to my free monthly trainings? Sign up for my newsletter by clicking here.
DM me on Instagram & let me know what you thought of this episode!
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Isabel coaches picture book author Katie Venit as she makes the shift to writing novels. While Katie enjoys planning, outlining, and revising, she feels a lot of resistance to writing the first draft. Isabel coaches Katie on how to lean into her writing strengths and how to use brackets to make drafting easier.
Katie's first two pictures books, FORTS and CASSINI'S MISSION, are due out summer 2025. Learn more about Katie and her work on her website.
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The publishing industry is hard. That's why I created The Confident Author Academy. My 6-month, private coaching program (+ online course) helps you build the mindset & emotional skills you need to thrive as an author. To learn more, schedule a free consult with me by clicking here.
Want access to my free monthly trainings? Sign up for my newsletter by clicking here.
DM me on Instagram & let me know what you thought of this episode!
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Isabel coaches debut author Erica Eberhart on the overwhelm that comes from juggling multiple deadlines for different books in her series.
Her first novel, Tarnished, comes out January 21, 2025.
To learn more about Erica visit her website or follow her on Instagram.
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The publishing industry is hard. That's why I created The Confident Author Academy. My 6-month, private coaching program (+ online course) helps you build the mindset & emotional skills you need to thrive as an author. To learn more, schedule a free consult with me by clicking here.
Want access to my free monthly trainings? Sign up for my newsletter by clicking here.
DM me on Instagram & let me know what you thought of this episode!
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Isabel coaches debut romantasy author, Shalini Abeysekara, on defining success, putting less importance on social media metrics, and connecting to what she loves about her story.
Her debut, The Monster of Mine, is due out in Spring 2025. Learn more at Shalini's website, add her book on Goodreads, and follow her on Instagram.
***
The publishing industry is hard. That's why I created The Confident Author Academy. My 6-month, private coaching program (+ online course) helps you build the mental & emotional skills you need to thrive as an author. To learn more, schedule a free consult with me by clicking here.
Want access to my free monthly trainings? Sign up for my newsletter by clicking here.
DM me on Instagram & let me know what you thought of this episode!
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Isabel coaches debut author Lacey N. Dunham on her Book 2 anxiety, including how to lean into your natural process and when to loop in your agent to get clarity about the pros and cons of different delivery dates for the proposal.
To learn more about Lacey visit her website, follow her on Instagram, or subscribe to her substack.
***
The publishing industry is hard. That's why I created The Confident Author Academy. My 6-month, private coaching program (+ online course) helps you build the mental & emotional skills you need to thrive as an author. To learn more, schedule a free consult with me by clicking here.
Want access to my free monthly trainings? Sign up for my newsletter by clicking here.
DM me on Instagram & let me know what you thought of this episode!
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Isabel coaches L.L. Madrid about what to do when you feel yourself freezing up when you sit down to write. This is a common response for many authors who achieve a new level of success in their career (such as finally selling a debut or writing the follow-up to a surprise hit).
L.L.'s debut, My Lips, Her Voice comes out Fall 2025. You can learn more on her website here.
***
The publishing industry is hard. That's why I created The Confident Author Academy. My 6-month, private coaching program (+ online course) helps you build the mental & emotional skills you need to thrive as an author.
To learn more, schedule a free consult with me by clicking here.
Want access to my free monthly trainings? Sign up for my newsletter by clicking here.
DM me on Instagram & let me know what you thought of this episode!
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Isabel coaches Sasa Hawk on the (very normal!) insecurities about her second book, imposter syndrome, and the fear of disappointing her editor. Later in the episode, the pair talk about simplifying marketing and social media.
Sasa's debut, Unlock the Dark, is available for preorder here and releases on February 25, 2025. You can follow Sasa on Instagram or Threads.
***
The publishing industry is hard. That's why I created The Confident Author Academy. My 6-month, private coaching program (+ online course) helps you build the mental & emotional skills you need to thrive as an author. To learn more, schedule a free consult with me by clicking here.
Want access to my free monthly trainings? Sign up for my newsletter by clicking here.
DM me on Instagram & let me know what you thought of this episode!
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Isabel coaches Michelle J on how to choose which project to write next and how to make the most of short downtime between edit passes.
Michelle's debut, The Divide that Binds Us, releases May 16, 2025. You can preorder the book here or add it on Goodreads.
You can learn more about Michelle on her website.
***
The publishing industry is hard. That's why I created The Confident Author Academy. My 6-month, private coaching program (+ online course) helps you build the mental & emotional skills you need to thrive as an author. To learn more, schedule a free consult with me by clicking here.
Want access to my free monthly trainings? Sign up for my newsletter by clicking here.
DM me on Instagram & let me know what you thought of this episode!
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Isabel coaches 2025 debut author, Veronica Bane, about how to make connections with fellow authors at events without feeling salesy, including how to lean into your natural social superpowers.
Veronica's debut, Difficult Girls, is coming out summer 2025.
Follow Veronica on Instagram. Add Difficult Girls on Goodreads.
The publishing industry is hard. That's why I created The Confident Author Academy. My 6-month, private coaching program (+ online course) helps you build the mental & emotional skills you need to thrive as an author. To learn more, schedule a free consult with me by clicking here.
Want access to my free monthly trainings? Sign up for my newsletter by clicking here.
DM me on Instagram & let me know what you thought of this episode!
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